With a phone or tablet in your pocket, you get instant access to a huge variety of podcasts — both audio and video. They keep you entertained while you’re commuting or on a long plane ride, and they provide useful information that you can integrate into your daily routine as a Web professional.
Keeping track of the ever-changing selection and finding quality podcasts that feature exactly the topics you are interested in can be painful. That’s where we come in. We have put together an extensive list that includes your soon-to-be favorite podcast — whether you are a developer looking for coding advice, a designer seeking inspiration or a startup businessperson. So, tune in, stay informed and learn new skills!
Further Reading on SmashingMag:
- An In-Depth Guide To Launching Your Own Podcast
- Khajag Apelian: Type Design Is Not Only About Drawing Letters
- Feeling Stuck? Design What You Don’t Know
Design
On The Grid On the Grid is a design podcast featuring Matt McInerney, Andy Mangold and Dan Auer. Every week, the three call in for a conversation about design’s effect on the world and the world’s effect on design.
Draft A show about the craft of designing for the Web. Your hosts are Giovanni DiFeterici and Gene Crawford from Unmatched Style.
The Fox Is Black The Fox Is Black is an art and design blog that seeks to discover and share the most interesting and inspiring parts of contemporary life and culture.
Design Chat DesignChat claims to present the best live discussion about design on the Internet. They go live on Wednesdays at 8:00 pm CT.
Let’s Make Mistakes Mike and Leah talk about design, with a lot of tangents along the way. They are dedicated to bringing you the best podcasts about design and culture from an alternative point of view. They are committed to excellence through argument.
The East Wing The East Wing’s host, Tim Smith, and his expert guests talk about design, user experience, problem-solving and the keys to creating products with value. A new episode is published every Wednesday.
Design Pro The Design Pro Show is a weekly webcast with Andy Rutledge. Each interactive live episode is free to watch and full of advice on how to succeed in a professional practice.
Design Festival The Design Festival podcast provides designers with fresh inspiration. It features expert talks ranging from UX design to typography to coding advice.
UX
User Interface Engineering User Interface Engineering specializes in website usabilty and user experience. On its podcast, called SpoolCast, experts share their thoughts on designing with the user in mind.
User Experience Podcast Sharing its voice since 2006, the User Experience Podcast features a wide range of interviewees and commentary on everything UX. Features include developers talking about their development process and information on how to conduct interviews for user research.
Coding
The WebGL Podcast This one is a podcast about WebGL. It covers the latest news and libraries, as well as tips and tricks to help you get the most out of your WebGL project. It is hosted by Paul Lewis who currently works on Google Chrome’s Developer Relations team.
The Creative Coding Podcast Digital media consultant Seb Lee-Delisle and designer and developer Iain Lobb discuss the ins and outs of programming for visual and creative applications.
The Basement Coders Developer Podcast The Basement Coders Developer Podcast features discussion on development topics and interviews with passionate developers.
HNpod HNpod is currently hosted by Michael Mahemoff, having been started by Alex Muir. In half an hour, it discusses the week’s top stories on Hacker News.
Ruby on Rails
Ruby5 Released Tuesday and Friday mornings, this podcast presents the latest news in the Ruby and Rails community.
RailsCasts Produced by Ryan Bates, RailsCasts targets the intermediate Rails developer, but beginners and experts will get something out of the tips and tricks as well. A free episode is released every other week.
Ruby Rogues Ruby Rogues is a podcast about Ruby and related technologies. A lot of practical tips, such as what the ideal development environment looks like, will facilitate your working process.
JavaScript
The Javascript Show This podcast by developers Peter Cooper and Jason Seifer features the latest news and discussion within the JavaScript communities, covering frameworks, development techniques, quick scripts and more.
JavaScript Jabber Claiming to be “your prototype for great code,” the JavaScript Jabber’s experts panel shares its knowledge once a week.
NodeUp: A Node.js Podcast NodeUp discusses a wide array of Web development topics. Every Sunday you can join the team live via freenode.
yayQuery Hosted by developers Paul Irish, Alex Sexton, Rebecca Murphey and Adam J. Sontag, yayQuery is your weekly rainbow ride through all things jQuery.
PHP
Voices of the ElePHPant Voices of the ElePHPant offers interviews with people who are involved in the PHP community.
Businesses and Startups
The Industry The Industry brings a new perspective to tech media. Highlighting design-focused startups and people, its purpose is to give the design community a voice in the tech industry.
Startups for the Rest of Us Hosts Mike Taber and Rob Walling share their own experience as software entrepreneurs with developers and designers who want to launch their own software products.
5by5 | Founders Talk Hosted by Adam Stacoviak, Founders Talk features interesting interviews with people who had the courage to start a business. A new episode is released each week.
Kalzumeus Kalzumeus is hosted by Patrick McKenzie. A software businessman himself, he gives advice on business topics.
BizCraft A podcast about the business side of Web design, recorded live almost every two weeks. Hosted by Carl Smith and Gene Crawford from Unmatched Style.
Unfinished Business Andrew Clarke and Anna Debenham present a weekly discussion show about the business end — the sharp end — of the Web, design and creative industries.
General
Treehouse Show Archives Teaching technology to the world is the mission of Treehouse, hosted by Nick Pettit and Jason Seifer. The team offers a dose of Web design and development news every Tuesday.
Fresh Squeezed Mobile An interview podcast exploring Web design and development. Together with experts, the team discusses mobile design, responsive design, content strategy and user experience.
ShopTalk ShopTalk is a Web design, development and UX podcast with Chris Coyier and Dave Rupert. Each week, they are joined by a special guest who helps to answer questions submitted by listeners.
The Changelog What’s going on in open source? The Changelog’s hosts, Wynn Netherland and Adam Stacovlak, cover the new and fresh each week.
Boagworld Paul Boag, creator of the longest-running podcast about Web design, shares tips and news for designers, developers and website owners. His daily audio tips provide some quick inspiration for people on the go.
PleaseAdvise.fm An occasional podcast by Mike McAlister, Jake Caputo and Chris Molitor. The topics range from WordPress to tips for business startups.
This Developer’s Life An interview series in which developers talk about certain aspects of their life and working process. What drives them, and what hinders them?
iTunes DesignChat DesignChat is a weekly video- and text-based conversation between and for creatives.
WebDev Radio WebDev Radio’s host, Michael Kimsal, catches up with well-known developers, providing his audience with the latest news and current discussion.
5by5 | The Web Ahead The Web Ahead is a weekly podcast that covers changing technologies and the future of the Web. Topics include HTML5, mobile responsive design, iOS and Android. Hosted by Jen Simmons, the episodes are broadcast live but can be watched later.
5by5 | The Big Web Show The Big Web Show covers an interesting mix of everything Web. Topics include Web publishing, Web technology, art direction, content strategy, typography and more. Each week, host Jeffrey Zeldman welcomes a new guest. The show is broadcast live and can be watched later.
Techzing Techzing is a chat show hosted by Justin Vincent and Jason Roberts. Two episodes are released each week. The “Midweek Interview Show” features interviews with interesting people. In the “Weekend Discussion Show,” the duo talks about startups, tech in general and other topics.
5by5 | Build and Analyze Build and Analyze is a podcast hosted by Marco Arment and Dan Benjamin. Every week brings the latest news and discussion on mobile Web development, iPhone, iPad and iOS. You can watch the show either live or recorded.
Young Guns Show This podcast features interviews with young people who make the Web.
Happy Monday Josh Long and Sarah Parmenter present a short-burst podcast every Monday. So far, it has featured many well-known experts, including Andy Clarke, Trent Walton and Jessica Hirsche.
The Gently Mad Podcast The Gently Mad is an interview show about what drives us as creators and what connects us as people. Each week, the hosts explore the stories, experiences and insights of awesome people who make awesome things.
The Businessology Show This podcast, about the business of design and the design of business, is hosted by Jason Blumer and Dan Mall.
Upfront An in-depth discussion on the latest tooling, workflow and best practices for front-end developers, brought to you every week by Jack Franklin and Ben Howdle.
The Non-Breaking Space Show The Non-Breaking Space Show is a podcast that seeks out the best and brightest on the Web and chats with them about what they do and why they do it.
The Stack | Monocle 24 Hosted by editor in chief Tyler Brûlé, the program looks at the future of print media, from magazines to newspapers.
Design Matters with Debbie Millman This thought-provoking podcast profiles industry-leading graphic designers, change agents, artists, writers and educators.
Scott Hanselman Scott Hanselman speaks, codes, writes, empowers, promotes, learns and listens — and he shares his insights with you on YouTube.
Download This Show Download This Show is your weekly point of access to the latest developments in social media, consumer electronics, digital politics, hacktivism and more, brought to you by ABC Radio National.
5by5 | The Critical Path Critical Path is a talk show that contemplates the causality of success and failure in mobile computing. Using Apple as a lens to look at both telecom and traditional computing markets, the hosts try to understand what it means to be great.
5by5 | High Density High Density is an interview show that brings together the sharpest minds in the world to discuss how markets and business models are in a state of perpetual disruption. All signal, no noise, and the merciless pursuit of the truth.
Debug Debug focuses on development, especially for iPhone, iPad, Mac and games, but it covers other platforms as well. Whereas Iterate (covered below) is all about designers, Debug is for developers.
Iterate Iterate is a fortnightly podcast focusing on mobile and app design for iOS, Mac, Android and other platforms.
Typeradio Type is speech on paper. Typeradio is speech on type. It is a micro-FM broadcast, an MP3 Internet radio stream and a podcast station. Typeradio broadcasts questions, answers, performances, events and talks online and on stage.
This Week in Web Design This Week in Web Design helps you accelerate your Web design career by teaching you the creative, business, technology and marketing secrets of its expert hosts and guests.
Refactor.tv Refactor.tv is a weekly podcast that discusses Web and mobile app development, open-source software and beer. Brought to you from San Francisco by two independent software developers, Sam Soffes and Steve Derico.
The Breakpoint The Breakpoint is a new show focusing on development tools and workflows.
Book Club Just like a regular book club but for Web design books. Each month, the club selects a book, reads it as a group and meets online at a set time of the day. The author of the book then takes questions, some sent in beforehand and some asked live by listeners.
Until Next Time
We hope you enjoy these podcasts and that there’s some or many in your field of interest. Spice up your travel time or make the drive to work more productive. Let yourself be entertained by experts in our industry, and gain not only new skills but also insights from their lives.
Tell us which is your favorite and why? Of course, you’re welcome to share other inspirational podcasts with the community — simply mention them in the comments section below!
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